tranarchy-and-chaos:

aijdsgljn:

Here are the objective facts I could find about Synthia China Blast. It was hard to dig these up because propaganda, misinformation, and unsourced claims are currently flooding the google search results for Synthia China Blast and not much extensive information is out there. All credible sources about the crime concerning Ebony Nicole Williams and a source about the prison industrial complex are at the bottom. Feel free to reblog this.

- Synthia was never convicted of rape. The medical examiner of the case did not find evidence of rape of Ebony Williams, and the only mention of a possible rape came from a witness who was determined to not be credible because they changed their story mid-trial. The prosecutor echoed the rape accusation to help their case against Synthia, but it did not hold up in court. Police officials, working with the informant that supposedly joined Synthia when she arrived to help others dispose of the body, were also told of the accused rape from the gang member turned informant that was present. However, it should be noted that Synthia was never convicted of rape /because/ she was never charged for rape due to a lack of physical evidence. Yes, Synthia wasn’t /even charged/ for rape, which brings us to our next piece of information.

- Much of the misinformation on reporting this comes from an article with a headline that is meant to gain hits for the site: m.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2-kings-life-rape-slay-girl-13-article-1.737954

As stated before, no one in the trial was convicted or charged with rape. The rape accusation was used to strengthen the prosecution. Even though the prosecution goes forward with the rape accusation, the lack of physical evidence and witness credibility did nothing to support a rape charge, because again, there was no rape charge. Despite the misleading and sensationalist headline of the above article, there was no rape charge or rape conviction and the article muddles this with the prosecution statements. The prosecution says there was a rape, not the jury who convicted Synthia and Carlos, because there was no physical evidence to support a rape accusation. The false rape accusation was used to bolster the murder and manslaughter prosecutions. Even the article states Synthia was convicted of the slaying, not a rape, if you read it carefully. Being a rape victim myself, this is very sickening to me. Rape should never be reduced to a prosecuting technique or sensationalism. The murder charge would have stood on its own without it. There is no justifiable reason to falsely accuse someone of rape to make a murder prosecution look better during the trial.

- Synthia was charged with “second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and reckless endangerment.” She was convicted of the second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges.

- Synthia was likely charged due to being an accessory to the disposal and burning of Ebony Williams’s body. Depending on the jury, one can be charged for murder without doing the killing, but being an accessory to its cover-up. Sometimes this will result in a full murder charge or an “accessory to murder” charge. She was apart of this crime, and as such, was legally held responsible to the full extent of the law. Ebony Nicole Williams received justice with this conviction. What is being scrutinized is whether or not Synthia took part in the killing or was an accessory to the clean-up. Both are terrible acts that deserve punishment.

- In gang culture, especially if you come from a poor or working class background, if you are asked to help clean up a crime scene and you refuse, then you are killed. I have lost friends and classmates in my neighborhood for this very reason. Gang violence in Black and Brown low-income communities is a result of white supremacy and extreme poverty that funnels these people through private prisons. The private prisons make profits off of imprisoned people on heightened charges, false charges, and legitimate charges. The prison industrial complex creates these desperate circumstances that cause Black and Brown people to result to violence against other Black and Brown people in their communities. There are thousands of Black and Brown people in prison despite being innocent, and thousands of Black and Brown people who are dead because they were victims of gang violence. All of this is a result from centuries of brutality and disenfranchisement of Black and Brown communities because of white supremacist colonialism. This does not justify Synthia’s or anyone’s role in Ebony Williams’s death and disposal. It provides context to how these tragedies happen.

- Synthia has suffered mental, emotional, and physical abuse in the prison system. She was raped multiple times while being in a men’s prison as an adult and endures psychological isolation by being in solitary confinement. She was also a child sexual abuse victim, and was raped in prison at the age of 16.

- Rape victims tend to exhibit what is called stockholm syndrome. Since Sythia has endured emotional, mental, and physical abuse for years in a men’s prison, it is not unlikely that this has affected her mental health. As such, she has been said to seek out relationships with serial killers and rapists. Seeking out relationships with abusive men is not unusual for rape victims, because we have been psychologically tortured and physically coerced into believing this treatment is normal by men. As a female rape victim, it frightens me that people are casting aside these realities for this rape victim because she does not fit the narrative of a transgender person who “deserves rights” or a “good victim” of rape.

- This may not pertain to Synthia, but I am a rape victim and a survivor of child sexual abuse. I am a black female. I do not want to reveal my identity because I’ve never posted about this publicly attached to my name and I do not plan to. I do not want to risk anyone finding out about my being abused this way.

- What happened to Ebony Williams is tragic, deplorable, and I am filled with rage about another black girl being murdered. I am filled with rage that someone took the death of this innocent black girl to springboard a misogynist attack against Synthia that resembles the homophobic stereotype that says all gay men are child rapists by default. I am filled with rage that Synthia, a rape victim, has gone through multiple rapes by men and psychological terror that are being disregarded because she does not fit “acceptable” narratives that are expected of women and rape victims.

- Similar to black males who occupy the highest rate of false accusations of sexual abuse weighed against any demographic, similar to gay males who are seen a pedophiliac rapists by default, similar to butch lesbians who are seen as more likely to sexually abuse, similar to latinx people who are constantly hypersexualized to their detriment, transgender women are stereotyped as inherently predatory, rapists, and pedophiles despite the fact that they are more likely to be victims of rape because they are women. Does this mean groups who are stereotyped in this way can never rape and abuse? No. Does this mean victims should be criticized if they come forward? No, they should be trusted. We should remain aware that these accusations /can/ come from a place of bigotry depending on the demographic sometimes, and this is an act that trivializes rape victims and normalizes these bigoted stereotypes, which do cause extreme harm.

- Murder of a child is never justified, full stop. Rape is never justified, full stop. Please do not claim to be against bigotry, rape culture, and the prison industrial complex if you believe Synthia does not deserve safety from the men who raped and abused her as a child and as an adult. No rape victim deserves rape. If you use the murder of black girls as a political tool to justify another form of bigotry, you are committing a white supremacist act, you are anti-Black, and you do not genuinely care for black girls or rape victims who do not fit your agendas.

- Sources

www.nytimes.com/1993/08/30/nyregion/two-held-in-death-of-girl-found-on-fire-by-highway.html

nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/n_10181/index3.html

www.nytimes.com/1993/09/01/nyregion/about-new-york-how-can-murdered-girl-be-missed-by-no-one.html

www.nytimes.com/1993/09/03/nyregion/slain-girl-is-identified-as-runaway-from-harlem.html

www.guernicamag.com/interviews/beyond-the-binary-behind-bars/

spr.igc.org/en/survivorstories/synthia-ny.html

This is honestly some really great information and research.  If anything about this whole situation deserves a bunch of notes, it’s this.